Read the Bills Act Coalition

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Never have I been so outraged at someone holding the Office of Governor for the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Governor Kaine said that he would enforce the death penalty. Gov. Kaine has now needlessly extended the life of Edward Nathaniel Bell, a convicted cop killer. Gov. Kaine has chosen to stand with a cop killer instead of with the family of the police officer that was murdered.

Edward Nathaniel Bell was supposed to be executed on April 8. Instead, Gov. Kaine has needlessly granted a stay of the cop killers execution until July 24, 2008.

This is the story about the cop killer Edward Nathaniel Bell. His is the life that Kaine just extended:

"My name is Paul H. Thomson and I am the prosecuting attorney for the small city of Winchester, Virginia. I prosecuted the case of Commonwealth of Virginia v. Edward Nathaniel Bell, Winchester Circuit Court Docket No. 99-CR-478, Virginia Supreme Court Appellate Record No. 011777(2001). In this case, the defendant was sentenced to death on May 31, 2001, for the murder of Winchester Police Officer Sergeant Rick Timbrook while he was in the line of duty. The facts of this case demonstrate in stark terms the need for immigration detention reform.

On October 30, 1999, Winchester Police Officer Sgt. Rick Timbrook was shot in the face at close range and killed by resident alien Edward Nathaniel Bell as Timbrook attempted to arrest him. At the time of the killing, Bell was at liberty on a $3,500 bond pending a removal proceeding in the Immigration Court, Arlington, Virginia. The I.N.S. had arrested, charged and detained Bell on the grounds that he violated Section 237(a)(2)(C) of the Immigration and Naturalization Act (as amended) in that he had been convicted of a weapons offense in Winchester on August 26, 1997.

The defendant Eddie Bell was admitted into the United States of America as a resident alien in 1992 from his native country of Jamaica. On May 16, 1997, while living in Winchester, Eddie Bell was caught in possession of a concealed and loaded handgun by the very officer he murdered two years later - Sgt. Rick Timbrook."Link to this story at http://judiciary.house.gov/Legacy/thomson_121901.htm

Here is Governor Kaine's statement:

RICHMOND– Governor Timothy M. Kaine today issued the following statement regarding the execution of Edward Nathaniel Bell and other scheduled executions in the Commonwealth of Virginia:

“On September 25, 2007, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari in the case of Baze v. Rees in order to consider the constitutionality of using lethal injection as a method of execution. There has been no execution carried out in the United States since that date, as courts around the country await the Supreme Court’s ruling, which will likely be issued at some time before the middle of July. Approximately 30 execution dates in 13 states have been stayed in the interim, either by actions of the Supreme Court, lower federal courts, state courts or gubernatorial action. In one of these cases, the Supreme Court issued a stay of the October 17, 2007 scheduled execution of Christopher Scott Emmett in Virginia.

“In order to await the Supreme Court’s ruling in Baze, and respecting the national legal consensus that no execution go forward until that time, I grant a temporary reprieve of the execution date for Edward Nathaniel Bell, currently scheduled for April 8, until July 24, 2008. This temporary reprieve will allow for issuance of the Supreme Court decision and consideration of whether its outcome has any effect upon the merits of Mr. Bell’s legal claims or request for clemency.

“Stays in the final hours before an execution can take an emotional and physical toll on those who must prepare for the execution, including the family members of the victim or victims. In order to provide guidance to courts, litigants and the public, it is my intention, for the reasons expressed here, to grant a temporary delay of any execution date in Virginia that has been set after the conclusion of federal habeas corpus review and that is scheduled to occur before the Baze decision is rendered, unless the Supreme Court, by other ruling or action, specifies that executions may commence once again.”

ACTIVIST LIBERAL GOV. KAINE HAS NEEDLESSLY EXTENDED THE LIFE OF A COP KILLER.

4 comments:

I used to take the standard Republican view that if you were charged by Police, that you were probably guilty, and if you were convicted, then you were certainly guilty.

I know differently now. I know that some people are so twisted that they will walk right into a courtroom and lie before the judge, jury and God, just to get a conviction.

This probably happens in every court, on every day to some extent. Since I have been observing Virginia's courts, I have seen prosecutors suppress evidence that they know will help exonerate the accused, I have seen judges disallow evidence that would prevent a conviction, I have seen local cops, State Troopers and even federal agents make things up, lie or embellish testimony in the hopes of getting a conviction.

The chief problem is that there is absolutely no incentive for cops, prosecutors and judges, to protect the rights of the accused. Sure you get a court appointed attorney, but especially here in Vahginyuh, the system is stacked against anyone who is accused, and we falsely convict people here EVERY DAY.

Until cops and prosecutors stop treating our justice system like a baseball box score, where only the number of your wins matters, the citizens will not have justice, or even fairness.

Why anyone would trust such a fallible, and often corrupt judicial system to murder someone, makes no sense. This is the same league of bureaucrats who can't get a parking ticket straight, so why should anyone trust them to execute the right perpetrator?

In the above case, even if the guy is guilty, killing him does not restore the life of the murdered cop. As a People, we do not need to satisfy a sense of revenge through state sponsored murder, especially when there is a possibility that the soul of the accused can still be redeemed, or that person may even be exonerated by new evidence, however unlikely that possibility.

In the most egregious examples of murder, life without parole is the humane choice and also allows for the possibility, however slim, of new evidence being discovered at a later date.

More of my fellow Republicans are awakening to the gaping holes in our justice system and are joining those who oppose state sponsored murder.

During the next election, the gubernatorial candidate who opposes the death penalty, shall be the man who will be elected. That man could be a Republican, but only if Bob McDonnell awakens to this key issue in time; otherwise, Creigh Deeds shall be our Governor.

It is the Twenty-First Century. It is well past time that we ended state sponsored murder in the Commonwealth.

Thanks for stopping by. I support the death penalty for heniously cruel and unusual crimes. The killing of an innocent police officer falls into that category. I also believe in an EYE FOR AN EYE type of justice. No regrets or apologies here, absolutely none. A cop killer deserves to be executed by the state in a sanctioned, legal, and professional manner. Justice delayed is justice denied. With this action, Gov. Kaine has crossed the thin blue line who do nothing but enforce the law. The death penalty is a deterent to crime, not a vengeful act in retribution for the commission of a crime.

Yes, it is the 21st Century, and high time that Tim Kaine keeps a campaign promise. In this case, Kaine is flat wrong.

i met eddie bell 5 years ago on death row and did an exam. he is retarded. the guards think he is innocent, the winchester police needed to pull someone over for this heinous crime and eddie was the man.he probably had no clue what was being asked of him. the guards in suffolk think the police in winchester forced a confession. i don't know about that but he needs to be re tried as his mental retardation never was brought into the trial.Dr. Greg

I am a Republican since as a boy I walked the neighborhood for Goldwater and was a Page for a Republican State Representative. I speak at Republican fundraisers and retreats. I am often IN FAVOR of the death penalty, BUT NOT IN THIS CASE, AT LEAST NOT UNTIL SERIOUS QUESTIONS ARE ANSWERED! I have documents to prove both FORENSIC MISCONDUCT and PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT by the same two men who "convicted" Eddie Bell.

There are MANY reasons to doubt the truth of this prosecution. STAY the EXECUTION of Eddie Bell, at least until a NON-POLICE, NON-PROSECUTOR review team can answer the questions.

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